Our Mission

Guided by Jewish values, CJJ organizes communities and builds coalitions to defend democracy and create a North Carolina where every person can thrive.

Our Foundation

Carolina Jews for Justice (CJJ) stands at the intersection of Jewish values and social justice, grounded in the Torah's insistence that every person is created in the image of God. We carry forward the prophetic tradition that demands justice—Isaiah's call to let the oppressed go free, Micah's charge to do justly, and to love mercy. Our work is rooted in the understanding that our liberation is bound up with the liberation of all who are oppressed.

Our Vision 

We envision a North Carolina where democracy is strong and protected; where multiracial and interfaith coalitions defend justice together; where every person’s dignity is honored; and where no community faces oppression.

A North Carolina where the prophetic call to justice echoes through our laws, our schools, and our communities, and where every act of solidarity strengthens the fabric of freedom.

Organizational Values in Action

Tzedek Over Comfort

We pursue justice even when it's difficult, committing to actions that may challenge our own communities when justice demands it.

Emet Over Convenience

We speak truth even when it's hard, telling the whole truth about our history and present moment, even when uncomfortable.

Kehillah Over Isolation

We build community rather than withdrawing, using whatever privilege and security we have to connect with and protect the most vulnerable.

Chesed Over Indifference

We act with compassion for the vulnerable, refusing to remain quiet when politicians invoke God's name to justify cruelty.

Threat Assessment: The Crisis of Democracy

Democracy in the United States is facing a coordinated assault. Across the country, we are seeing efforts to weaken the very principles that ensure government of the people, by the people, and for the people: that power must be shared, minorities protected, and leadership accountable to the public. The goal of these efforts is to limit the rights and voices of many.

The Role of Religious Extremism

One of the sharpest tools in this anti-democratic project is religious extremism which distorts sacred texts and invokes divine authority to justify policies that undermine equality and human dignity. Today, we see religion used to excuse discrimination, to restrict freedoms, and to silence dissent.

Anti-Democratic Tactics

It is part of a larger pattern of attacks on democracy that includes:

• Restricting access to the ballot, through laws and practices that make it harder for people to participate fully in civic life.
• Suppressing education, through book bans and restrictions that erase diverse stories and limit critical thinking.
• Targeting immigrant and marginalized communities, through deportations, incarceration, and policies that profit from human suffering.
• Undermining checks and balances, when institutions meant to serve the public are bent toward narrow political or economic interests.

Historical Pattern

Throughout history, authoritarian movements have cloaked their actions in the language of holiness or destiny. Pharaoh invoked divine authority to enslave. Empires and inquisitions used religion to justify violence. Modern dictators have co-opted faith and culture alike to demand obedience and suppress freedom. The pattern is clear: authoritarianism, whether dressed in religious or secular language, thrives when people are taught to revere power rather than resist it.

What’s at Stake

At stake is nothing less than the democratic experiment itself. Religious extremism is one powerful tactic, but the broader project is the erosion of democracy—replacing a system rooted in equality and accountability with one that concentrates power and excludes dissent.

We must be clear about what we are defending: a vision of democracy where every person has dignity, every community has a voice, and freedom is shared by all.

Strategic Priorities

Electoral Justice

Goal: Protect and expand democratic participation for all North Carolinians

Actions:

• Nonpartisan voter registration and civic engagement campaigns
• Nonpartisan voter education on ballot measures and voting rights
• Challenge gerrymandering and voter suppression through litigation and advocacy
• Advocate for policies that strengthen multiracial democracy
• Educate communities about voting rights and electoral processes

Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Goal: Defend the dignity and safety of immigrant communities

Actions:

• Support and partner with existing rapid response networks
• Challenge private prison systems and detention conditions
• Support sanctuary policies at local and state levels
• Document and expose human rights violations in immigration enforcement
• Advocate for immigrant and refugee rights

Defend Religious Freedom

Goal: Protect religious freedom while challenging its weaponization for political power

Actions:

• Defend religious freedom for all faith communities and non-religious individuals
• Challenge authoritarian interpretations that weaponize any faith to justify oppression
• Advocate for true separation of church and state
• Counter legislation that privileges one religious perspective over others
• Address religious extremism within Jewish communities when it contradicts justice values

Educational Freedom

Goal: Defend educational freedom and comprehensive education

Actions:

• Defend educational freedom and oppose book bans
• Support comprehensive education about our history
• Create educational resources connecting Jewish experience to broader justice struggles
• Amplify the voices of those whom systems of power would rather silence

Community Safety

Goal: Advocate for policies that keep all North Carolinians safe

Actions:

• Advocate for policies that keep all North Carolinians safe
• Challenge systems that endanger vulnerable populations
• Build communities where everyone can live without fear
• Support community-based safety solutions

Coalition Strategy

Core Principle: Interconnected Liberation

Our strategy recognizes that systems of oppression are interconnected. Authoritarianism that weaponizes faith threatens multiple communities simultaneously, requiring coordinated resistance across difference.

Partnership Priorities

• Faith Communities: Build interfaith coalitions with Christians, Muslims, and all faith and spiritual communities committed to inclusive democracy while challenging religious extremism across traditions
• Racial Justice Organizations: Center partnerships with BiPoc and other organizations led by communities of color
• LGBTQ+ Rights Groups: Collaborate on defending bodily autonomy and family recognition
• Civil Rights Groups: Work alongside established civil rights organizations
• Immigrant Rights Groups: Stand in solidarity with undocumented and refugee communities
• Reproductive Justice Organizations: Defend reproductive autonomy as a fundamental human right

Theory of Change

Our Approach: Prophetic Resistance

We understand resistance as an act of faith, organizing as an act of holiness, and solidarity as an act of love. Our work disrupts systems of oppression while building beloved community.

CJJ's Unique Contribution

As a Jewish organization in the South, CJJ brings a distinctive voice to North Carolina's social justice landscape. Our historical experience of religious persecution gives us particular insight into how authoritarianism weaponizes faith, while our prophetic tradition of speaking truth to power provides both spiritual grounding and tactical wisdom for building coalitions across difference. We serve as bridge-builders between faith communities and secular allies, uniquely positioned to challenge religious extremism while defending genuine religious freedom for all.

Strategic Leverage Points

1. Local Organizing: Build community power at city and county levels where change is most tangible
2. Statewide Advocacy: Influence North Carolina policy through legislative advocacy and issue education
3. Legal Strategy: Partner with and support organizations that challenge unconstitutional and unjust laws through courts.
4. Cultural Narrative: Shift public discourse toward justice-driven values and away from fear-based rhetoric
5. Community Care: Create mutual aid and support systems that demonstrate alternative values

Implementation Framework

Year One Priorities (5786)

• Immigrant Rights: Support rapid response networks for deportation defense and detention challenges
• Electoral Justice: Launch nonpartisan voter education and ballot access protection initiatives
• Interfaith Coalition: Build coalition against authoritarianism that weaponizes faith across traditions
• Educational Freedom: support comprehensive historical education where capacity allows

Success Indicators

• Coalition Strength: Diverse, sustained partnerships with organizations across priority areas
• Community Trust: Meaningful engagement with directly impacted communities in voter education and civic participation
• Rapid Response Impact: Effective support for individuals and families through immigrant rights networks
• Interfaith Leadership: Recognized voice in countering religious extremism through authentic coalition building
• Policy Influence: Documented impact on local and state policy conversations and outcomes
• Organizational Sustainability: Growing membership, volunteer engagement, and leadership development

Sustaining Sacred Work

• Diversified funding through individual donors, foundation grants, and community fundraising
• Leadership development pipeline ensuring long-term organizational capacity
• Partnership-based approach that shares resources and reduces duplication

Call to Sacred Resistance

This framework emerges from our conviction that 5786 will be a year of courage. The shofar has awakened us to the urgency of this moment. We are called to resist not with the weapons of our oppressors, but with the tools of our tradition: teshuvah (the courage to change course), tzedek (relentless pursuit of justice), and chesed (fierce love that refuses to abandon the vulnerable).

Together, we can build a North Carolina—and an America—that is not ruled by fear, but renewed by justice. Where the shofar's call to freedom echoes in every courthouse and classroom. Where liberty is proclaimed throughout the land, to all inhabitants thereof.

The year is 5786. The shofar has awakened us. The work is urgent. And the time is now.